As early as 1975 it was reported by Dr. S. K. Ries and associates in the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station Journal article No. 7431, that coarsely chopped alfalfa hay, when applied to the soil as a band adjacent row crops could improve plant growth. This phenomenon was mentioned with respect to lettuce, rice, cucumbers, tomatoes, cauliflower and field corn. The authors stated that "The cause of this response is not clear. The magnitude and characteristics of the response (Shoot/root ratios) to such small quantities of alfalfa indicate that the direct availability of nitrogen from alfalfa is not the likely cause." Ries and his co-workers speculated in this bulletin about the cause of the response but did not mention the possible presence of a growth stimulant, and in fact concluded the article by stating that "These results suggest that sidedressing crops with small quantities of plant material may increase the efficiency of fertilizer utilization or substitute for supplemental application of synthetic or inorganic nitrogen fertilizers."
Then, in an article that appeared in SCIENCE, Mar. 25, 1977, Volume 195, pp. 1339-1341, Ries and his co-workers reported the isolation of triacontanol as the active growth agent that had been present in the earlier alfalfa work, and the laboratory scale foliar application to field corn of a solution containing 0.01 mg per liter up to 1.00 mg per liter was reported also. The results for field corn showed only that the mg/shoot was 466 for the 0.01 rate and 429 at the 1.00 rate. The authors concluded that the "corn grew best when sprayed with 0.01 mg/liter, whereas rice grew best at the higher concentration."
Then, in 1977, Dr. Ries and others conducted field tests under the auspices of the Pesticide Research Center, Department of Horticulture, Michigan State University, at East Lansing, Michigan. The results of the trials were reported by a bulletin of the Research Center entitled "Yield of Crops Sprayed with Triacontanol in Field Plots During 1977" by Dr. Stanley Ries and Terry Richman.
The bulletin reports the following general results:
______________________________________ SUMMARY OF RANGE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF INCREASES DUE TO TRIACONTANOL ON MARKETABLE YIELD OF ALL CROPS SPRAYED IN THE FIELD DURING 1977. Odds that increase Range of increase over control was not due Crops (tons/ha) (%) to chance* ______________________________________ Dry Beans .08 to .23 3 to 10 19:1 Sweet Corn 1.2 to 2.6 11 to 24 99:1 Field Corn 0 0 N.S. Cucumber 1.3 to 2.3 6 to 19 99:1 Tomatoes (Early yield) .4 to 2.8 5 to 30 19:1 Wheat .04 to .20 0 to 8 N.S. Carrots 3.0 to 5.8 11 to 21 19:1 Radishes 0 to .14 0 to 8 19:1 Asparagus .12 to .22 34 to 63 19:1 Lettuce 0 to 6.4 0 to 36 N.S. ______________________________________ *N.S. = not significant
The specific data respecting field corn was also reported as follows:
______________________________________ YIELD OF FIELD CORN TREATED WITH FOLIAR APPLICATIONS OF TRIACONTANOL (AVERAGE OF 3 LOCATIONS). TRIACONTANOL YIELD OF UNSHELLED CORN (mg/l) (metric tons/ha) ______________________________________ Control 11.9 .01 11.5 .10 11.4 1.00 11.5 ______________________________________
CONDITIONS:
Location--E. Lansing, Gratiot County and St. Joe County. PA1 Fertilizer program--normal cultural practices. PA1 Planting method--commercial corn planter. PA1 Stage of crop--after corn had 3 to 6 leaves in all tests. PA1 Plot size--15.2 M by 0.76 M. PA1 Blocks--four to six. PA1 Spray rate--388 l/ha with one 8004 nozzle. PA1 Miscellaneous--Average of 3 locations and different number of applications of the different rates. There was no significant difference between number of applications or between rates.
Based on the previous Ries work and the 1977 field trials, it was reported in the Nov. 15, 1977 issue of the Wall Street Journal as follows: